Fund mismanagement hampers transactions with government – Lacson

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos encounter difficulties in dealing with the government and this is due largely to its mismanagement of funds, Reform Party standard-bearer Sen. Panfilo Lacson said during his visit in Batangas last Wednesday.

Citing the story of Norma Guillo, Lacson said he worked on resolving problems referred to him, including the concern of families who have failed to get paid for their land taken by the government.

Lacson said the experience of Guillo’s family proves how difficult it is to transact with the government because of its mismanagement of funds.

“We were debating the national budget for 2019. I saw the appropriations for the right-of-way. The DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) is demanding P22 billion for road right-of-way, to pay those like Aling Norma from Bauan (in Batangas), who must be paid when the road hits their property,” recalled the senator.

But despite the DPWH’s huge funding – with P11 billion still unused in 2018 – some families in the same situation as the Guillo family still did not receive compensation.

Lacson assisted them in his capacity as a senator and learned that due to the improper process, the land taken from the Guillo family was almost impossible to pay.

“They’re pitiful. They did not know where to go. What I did then was ask the DPWH: ‘You are asking for P22 billion, you still have P11 billion left in the current year – 2018. Why would we give you P22 billion for 2019 when those poor countrymen (are not being paid)? This is just a family from Batangas. That’s about 20 more families. We estimate there are probably 15 to 20 families,’ ” Lacson recalled.

The senator’s team learned that the Guillos were only one of many cases of unpaid landowners whose land was taken by the DPWH for government road projects. Among them is another family in Metro Manila who has been waiting 10 years for the promised P20-million compensation for their property.

“What we did was I insisted, I said, ‘We have a budget deliberation in the plenary in the Senate, please come with us in the Senate so that the DPWH can see your situation for themselves,” Lacson said.

During the Senate budget hearing, Lacson admonished the DPWH regional directors over the plight of families who lost their properties but have not been paid by the department.  A week later, the families were compensated.

“This is the story of my staff. The Metro Manila resident said they didn’t expect it and all of a sudden it was like they won the lottery and got P20 million,” Lacson said.

“They even offered a large amount to our staff to thank them. But my staff declined the goodwill money,” he said.